It’s been widely reported that Oasis of the Seas, the joint-largest cruise ship ever built, will be coming to Europe in the latter part of 2014. She’ll be going into a shipyard in Rotterdam for a ‘service’ – it’s not explained yet what that will involve – so Royal Caribbean are organising a short programmes of cruises around that.

She’ll depart Miami on 1 September for a 12-night transatlantic crossing, arriving at Barcelona on 13 September. Then she will do two 5-night itineraries around the W Mediterranean returning to Barcelona at the end of both, after which she will do a 7-night cruise from Barcelona to Rotterdam. Assuming for the moment that she starts these cruises on 13 September, that means their dates will be 13 September; 18 September; and 23 September, arriving in Rotterdam on 30 September. After the service she’ll start a 14-night transatlantic cruise back to Miami on 14 October, and this will also call at Southampton (presumably on 15 October) where more passengers will embark for what will be for them a 13-night cruise. There’s no information on the detailed itineraries for any of the cruises yet – this will be made available near the date the cruises go on sale on 11 April 2013.

My first reaction when I heard about these cruises was to dismiss them – “not my cup of tea”, and all that – but I have since reconsidered. I’ve read a lot of positive reviews from people with wide experiencing of cruising, and cruising on smaller, older ships at that, and the overall impression I get from them is that this ship (and her sister, Allure of the Seas) is simply on such a different scale that the experience is completely different. Here’s one from Malcolm Oliver, who is also a member of the Ocean Liner Society. He’s not the sort of chap you might expect to have appreciated what OotS has to offer, but it seems he did. So when the itineraries and prices are published, I’ll have a think about it.

Like this:

Related

One Response to “Behemoth of the Seas coming to Europe!”

Thanks for the name-check Tom. I actually love the older ‘classic’ vessels for their charm and intimacy, but also often love the big new ships for their comfort and facilities. Likewise, if I had the money I’d have a luxury state-of-the-art car AND a vintage model. I also have a modern City Apartment and the Country Cottage (not forgetting the yacht too).